Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson was born on June 17, 1867 in New South Wales, Australia. He wrote short stories and ballad-like poems, illuminating the lives of rural, working Australians. Lawson is often called Australia’s "greatest writer." During the colonial period, he traveled extensively, and was frequently published in the Bulletin. He died impoverished in 1922.

http://www.poemhunter.com/henry-lawson/poems/

The Water Lily

A lonely young wife
In her dreaming discerns
A lily-decked pool
With a border of ferns,
And a beautiful child,
With butterfly wings,
Trips down to the edge of the water and sings:
‘Come, mamma! come!
‘Quick! follow me—
‘Step out on the leaves of the water-lily!’
And the lonely young wife,
Her heart beating wild,
Cries, ‘Wait till I come,
‘Till I reach you, my child!’
But the beautiful child
With butterfly wings
Steps out on the leaves of the lily and sings:
‘Come, mamma! come!
‘Quick! follow me!
‘And step on the leaves of the water-lily!

And the wife in her dreaming
Steps out on the stream,
But the lily leaves sink
And she wakes from her dream.
Ah, the waking is sad,
For the tears that it brings,
And she knows ’tis her dead baby’s spirit that sings:
‘Come, mamma! come!
‘Quick! follow me!
‘Step out on the leaves of the water-lily!’
 

Henry Lawson